Such Hot Blood
by cal.grab
Summary: Continuation of: Half of Something Else. Family dinners are always more interesting with guests...


Quick continuation of Half of Something Else, I have a new pinterest page as well, link should be on my profile!

-E.C.

* * *

"Dad, no." Elizabeth sent Klaus a pointed look. Ade had barely been in their apartment for ten minutes before Klaus had attempted to drag him off on some sort of 'tour of the place'. Elizabeth knew it was some sort of sick cross between a normal father scaring a teenage boy, and the original hybrid putting the fear of God into a potential victim. She could only hope her mother would see the light.

"I think a tour would be perfect, give the boys a chance to get to know each other?" Caroline smiled brightly at her daughter. "Plus, it'll give Elizabeth and I a chance to finish dinner." It was at that point that Elizabeth knew that someone would wind up leaving the place in a body bag, and considering her father was a nearly indestructible creature who would die before anything happened to her or her mother, Elizabeth was putting the bets on Ade. Dammit, she'd actually liked this one.

"I'd be alright with a tour?" Ade interceded. Elizabeth shot him a warning glare; she'd warned him of her parents, but he didn't seem to understand the fact that he was actually in mortal peril. Elizabeth looked at her father who had his creepiest I'd-really-like-to-rip-your-beating-heart-out-of-your-chest-as-a-funny-joke smile on and back to her mother, who was eyeing her husband adoringly as if his creepy smile did something to her physically. Elizabeth shuddered at the thought. Her parents had never been secret in their affections.

"Come along then Ade, let's start at the top." Klaus nodded toward the stairs and Ade followed willingly, giving Elizabeth a sweet smile over his shoulder. She sighed and gave up any chance of seeing the boy again before following her mother into the kitchen.

* * *

Caroline was a terrible cook, and everyone knew it. She continuously forgot that metal didn't belong in the microwave, forgot about the tea kettle that was boiling away while she was upstairs, and managed to overcook noodles on a weekly basis. Elizabeth was thankful that her father was well versed in culinary arts and prepared the more complicated aspects of the human meals, while allowing her mother to perform the simpler tasks. It made Caroline feel helpful in an area where she was anything but. Her father had put a lasagna in the oven before Ade had arrived and allowed Caroline to take credit for the wonderful smell it produced.

"So," Caroline began, leaning against the basin sink, "tell me about Ade, I've not heard you mention a word about him." Elizabeth found it hard to talk boys with her mother, and where she felt bad, because she knew it hurt her mother, Elizabeth's parents were a bit over protective, and to do anything that aroused suspicion was the opposite of what Elizabeth wanted to do.

"It's still pretty new," Elizabeth admitted, "but he's very traditional, so he wanted to get dad's approval before we got too serious."

"You're barely sixteen, there'd better not be anything serious going on." Caroline warned, frowning at her daughter. Caroline knew that her daughter was beautiful, and it was more than a mother's preference. Elizabeth's long, golden hair was a bit of a rat's nest, tangled around her head in an attractive manner (that's what happens when both parents have a bit of a wave to their hair), she had pale skin, full lips, and stormy blue eyes. Caroline thought that she was the spitting image of her father, but with Caroline's nose. But there were problems with having a beautiful daughter, especially when she was the only surviving child of the original hybrid, his pride and joy.

Klaus and Caroline had briefly toyed with the idea of having more kids, and had even attempted on more occasions than she could count, but according to one of Klaus' witchy contacts, there had been something going on with the moon that year, and it was unlikely that they would happen upon those circumstances anytime soon. Klaus had explained it in full detail, but Caroline didn't really understand what he was talking about. When Klaus gets going on the moon and how it relates to the supernatural, he goes off a bit. Elizabeth and Caroline had learned to nod along.

"Please mom, I wouldn't even think about anything serious unless he had some semblance of a clue about the family he was getting into." Elizabeth grinned at her mom. Between her father and her aunt Rebekah, Elizabeth knew that nothing happened without them knowing. "And he doesn't. Won't for a very long time." Elizabeth moved to get the linens for the table and moved into the dining room to set up.

Caroline worried about Elizabeth. She and Klaus had worked very hard to expose her to both worlds, but there was no handbook for this, Elizabeth was one of a kind. She wasn't old enough to date a vampire or a werewolf, and humans? She had basically grown up as a human. Caroline knew that her daughter was a hybrid, all of the signs were there, but when would she stop aging? Unlike Twilight, Elizabeth had aged at a normal rate, much like a human child. Caroline herself was frozen only a year ahead of her daughter.

Caroline sighed and grabbed a handful of silverware to help her daughter arrange the table. She hadn't yet told the girl that there were supposed to be a few more members at their dinner tonight and now was a good a time as any.

"We're going to need five extra place settings." Caroline informed Elizabeth, attempting to hide the gleeful note in her voice.

"No. Please, no. Tell me you didn't invite them." Elizabeth begged and Caroline shrugged, attempting to play off her part.

"Your aunts and uncles are passing through, and Rebekah just couldn't resist stopping by." Caroline lied easily. In all reality, she had called Rebekah two days ago, only minutes after Elizabeth had announced her boyfriend's coming to dinner, and the two made quick plans to rally the troops. Shortly following Elizabeth's birth, Rebekah had warmed to Caroline. Caroline had reluctantly let the girl hold her daughter, and ever since, Rebekah had decided that she and Caroline were not only friends, but partners in crime.

Following that event, Katherine had come to meet Elizabeth with Elijah and once Katherine had found out that Caroline had prevented Klaus' revenge on her (everyone conveniently forgot about the sex part), she too began to sing a different tune to Caroline. Klaus wasn't allowed to touch a hair on Katherine's head because of said sex. It had taken Caroline a little while to warm up to both girls, but they had eventually become fast friends. Now, Stefan and Rebekah were living in Paris, Katherine and Elijah were exploring Russia, and the final guest was a recent transplant. Damon had temporarily given up on the good ole USA, and was living not too far from Klaus and Caroline. Caroline suspected that the red light district had something to do with it, but he was useful every once in a while. He and Klaus had even formed a weird sort of bond.

"Mom, all of them?" Elizabeth whined, but dutifully pulling out the leaves for the expanding dining room table. Caroline nodded as Klaus led Ade back into the dining room, Elizabeth didn't trust her parents for a second.

* * *

Damon was the first to arrive, cradling a large bottle of whiskey in the crook of his arm for Klaus and a bouquet of bright orange flowers for Caroline. Elizabeth and Ade snuck off to the living room on the next floor, with Elizabeth pretending that her parents didn't already know. Caroline cooed over the bright oranges as Klaus clapped Damon on the shoulder for upstaging him. Elizabeth listened to the group discuss the two new vampires in the area, while also trying to listen to Ade go on and on about how great her father was. He would learn soon enough, Elizabeth thought. Being her father's daughter, she knew how the man worked, drawing you in close first, like a snake, before tearing out your jugular.

"What exactly do your parents do for a living?" Elizabeth came back to reality when Ade asked her the dreaded question. Her mother was easy enough, Caroline looked and played the part of homemaker well, but her father? The man had his fingers dipped into a little bit of everything: owning multiple successful companies worldwide, playing a large roll in the stock exchange, selling multi-million dollar pieces of art, on top of being the world's leading antiques dealer, and not always on the right side of the law.

"Day trader I suppose." Elizabeth went with the easiest answer. She gave Ade a dumb little grin, trying to play the part of a confused teenage girl who didn't really understand what her father did. Klaus had made sure that in fact, the opposite was true, and often consulted with Elizabeth about his work. Ade looked satisfied with her answer and launched into a story about his father's furniture sales business. Elizabeth could hear the arrival of her aunts and uncles downstairs and knew that the brief interlude of peace would soon be over.

"Dinner's ready!" Caroline called from the bottom of the dark wood stairs and waited for the two to come back down. "Oh Ade, it seems you'll be meeting almost the entire family. Elizabeth's aunts and uncles are stopping by on their way through Europe." Elizabeth glared at her mother, blue eyes flashing yellow. Ade smiled, and said something polite, following Caroline into the dining room.

"I've never really liked short hair on girls," Damon was referring to Katherine's new pixie cut, she was apparently sick of the doppelgänger look and had chopped off her long hair not but two weeks ago.

"Yea, well I don't like short dicks, but here you are Damon." Elizabeth put her head in her hands. She and Ade has just sat down and it was already worse than she could've imagined.

"Let's calm down children, we're here to have a nice family meal and meet Elizabeth's friend." Klaus, sitting at the head of the table had barked out a laugh at Katherine's comment, but a sharp look from Caroline reminded him that they all needed to play the part. Elizabeth gave her father a suspicious glance. Her parents were up to something and she wanted to know what. "Elijah, how was Russia?" Klaus smiled somewhat warmly, some what terrifyingly.

* * *

"Boys like girls who chew like they're telling a secret."

"Sounds like boys are gay." Katherine snapped at Damon. Rebekah rolled her eyes at Katherine and turned to Caroline.

"Since we're on the topic of what men and women like in a partner what do you look for in a man Caroline? We've all been dying to know what you see in Nik." Caroline paused for a second and put her fork down.

"Well, I guess I like a man with good taste in music, and who lets me borrow his clothes. Being good looking doesn't help, I suppose," she mused for a few seconds more, "humor is important, and I guess a man who will slay my enemies in a brutal display of violence and paint his face with their blood." She finished and took a sip of her wine. Klaus was grinning widely and Rebekah shook her head sadly. Katherine pretended to shove her fingers down her throat, behavior that was discouraged by Elijah, who was sitting beside her.

"It all makes sense now." Rebekah sighed. Stefan put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and nodded with her.

"She's joking!" Elizabeth squeaked out, staring down an alarmed looking Ade.

"No, it's true." Caroline nodded wisely, enjoying the look of pride on Klaus' face. Elijah excused himself at the ring of his phone, thanking whatever god there was that he could pardon himself from the conversation.

"I would ride him across the god damned atlantic ocean." Katherine stated, loudly enough for him to hear of course. He also heard the collective groan from the rest of the table.

Klaus was frowning at Katherine when Damon broke out the whiskey. "It's 5 o'clock somewhere!" Damon laughed, standing to get glasses for the group.

"No Damon, it's 6:47. I'm not sure you know how timezones work." Katherine and Damon were on a roll tonight, which was why Klaus and Caroline generally kept them apart.

"Didn't the two of you used to date or something?" Rebekah seemed offended by the mere thought. Katherine gave Rebekah her worst face. The two girls dearly loved Caroline, but were still struggling to be friendly to each other.

"At least I didn't pull a Klaus and kill the mother of the boyfriend of the girl I like." Katherine raised her eyebrows at Klaus in challenge as she spoke. He simply shrugged and didn't refute the fact.

"You've killed someone?" Ade was slack jawed and horrified. Klaus shot him a grin that confirmed the boy's fears.

"Someone?" Damon was back sitting at the table, nursing his alcohol, "I'm pretty sure he killed seven people last week." Elizabeth sat unmoving. Seriously, they knew Ade was human, and they were discussing her father's list of victims like it was nothing. That was the plan all along, her parents weren't going to do anything, but instead let their friends and siblings show the crazy. Elizabeth could kill them. Ade stood up and made to move out the the apartment, but Klaus stopped him with a few words.

"Going somewhere? We haven't even had dessert yet."

"I'd rather…"

"Oh, I really think you should stay." Klaus stood up slowly and moved toward Ade. "Wouldn't want my daughter getting the impression that you were running, would you?" Ade took the opportunity to blot out of the dining room. Seconds later the group heard the front door slam.

"Have I missed something?" Elijah had drifted back into the room as slowly as possible to avoid potential conversations. The silent room turned to look at him.

"You all suck." Elizabeth whispered before slamming her way to her room. Caroline turned and looked helplessly at Klaus. They had just been messing around, isn't this what parents did? Klaus shrugged at his wife, to him it was what it was. The boy wasn't good enough for his daughter anyway.

"Klaus, fix this." Caroline told him, earning the attention of the table.

"What's the point love?" He questioned, not bothering to hide the distain in his 's eyes flashed angrily as she stared at her husband. Klaus held her gaze for several beats before standing and following Elizabeth. He wasn't afraid of Caroline in the least, but he wasn't in the mood to start a fight.

* * *

"Go away." Klaus stood at the door, listening to Elizabeth sob. Shit, he actually did feel bad now.

"Sweetheart, your mother and I were just…" he paused, unsure of what to say.

"Just what?" The door was ripped open and his daughter stared him down with furious eyes. "What were you and mom doing?"

"You think you can just date a human Elizabeth? You think that they mean anything to us? You are one of the most powerful creatures to ever walk this planet, and you'll damn well act like it…"

"You don't get it dad." Klaus paused at the emptiness in Elizabeth's voice. "I don't want to be the daughter of the original hybrid, I just want to be Elizabeth Mikaelson, and as cheesy and cliche as it sounds, it's true. You and mom put so much pressure on me and it's just not…I'm not perfect and fragile dad, I don't need 24 hour protection just like I don't have the answer to everything and it's like you expect me to! I know that I am one of a kind, I get that I'm special, but I don't want to be treated as such." Elizabeth leaned against the wall, weary from the mess that tonight had turned into. "You can't expect that of me."

"And we don't love. Your mother and I expect you to be honest with us though. Your mother and I are obviously not…ideal parents. We kill people to live, we don't age, among other things, but most of all, we have no idea about how to raise a child. Your mother has seen too many of her movies, and thought that this was how parents were supposed to act. I can't excuse my behavior because that's who I am. And you shouldn't expect us to change." Klaus was crouched in front of Elizabeth, staring her in the eye, talking softly.

"I don't dad, I just…I don't know."

"Family matters more than anything Elizabeth, I think the clear answer is that if he doesn't like your family, what's to like about him?"

"Maybe if you hadn't revealed the fact that you had murdered a ton of people." Elizabeth bit out. She was beginning to understand a little bit about where her family was coming from, but even still. It's not like they were raised in the jungle. Ok, so maybe her father was raised in the woods, but still. Klaus sighed and looked down to the floor, trying to figure out where to go next. Over the years he had realized that going in, guns blazing, was not the way to handle things with his wife and daughter.

"I don't know what to say Elizabeth. Maybe we could have been a little more…tactical, but he would have seen our true colors eventually. And you are our daughter, he would have had to see your true colors eventually too, and your hands aren't exactly clean. Humans are…a relationship with a human will never be ideal, you and I both know that." Elizabeth nodded, not bearing to look her father in the eye. "Think about it sweetheart, come down whenever you're ready." Klaus stood and made his way back down to the dining room. He smiled at Caroline and sat down to finish dinner with his family, only looking up when Elizabeth joined them.

For the rest of the night, Elizabeth smiled and laughed with her family. Her father was right, family was more important than a boy she hardly knew.


End file.
